Essential Politics: Trump’s ‘bump stock’ moment

There’s been a recurring narrative in some political circles that perhaps President Trump could have his own “Nixon goes to China" moment on the rising epidemic of gun violence — the thought being that someone with his bona fides among gun-rights groups could actually change the conversation.

The past 24 hours suggest there might be some truth to the idea.

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‘BUMP STOCK’ BAN

On Tuesday, Trump ordered Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to craft regulations to ban the “bump stock," a rapid-fire device used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre.

Aides to the president also say he now favors efforts to improve the federal background check system.

That means the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling will stand, one in which the judges said they agreed with the state's argument that “waiting 10 days may deter subsequent purchasers from buying new weapons that would be better suited for a heinous use.”

Senators will be privately briefed on Wednesday about proposed actions, and we could see a floor vote on Mendoza’s fate as early as Thursday.

Meanwhile, the effect of investigations into Mendoza and Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) has been felt especially hard in a swath of southeastern Los Angeles County, where the districts of the two lawmakers overlap. In all, some 440,000 Californians now find themselves without any representation in Sacramento.

COMING UP IN SAN DIEGO

Team Politics will be covering the San Diego debate Thursday nightbetween the Democrats running for governor, and then the party’s state convention that begins Friday. Don’t miss that coverage in the moment on our Essential Politics news feed and all weekend. We’ll have complete coverage in Monday’s newsletter.